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Hypothesis Testing: Animal Bone & Rock Examples

1. Four animal bone samples were discovered in the ditch terminals. These bones bore signs of attempts at artificial preservation and might have been in use for a substantial period of time before being placed at Stonehenge. When dated, these bones had a mean age of 3187.5 BC and standard deviation of 67.4 years. Assume that the ages are normally distributed with no obvious outliers. Use an ? = 0.05 significance level to test the claim that the population mean age of the site is different from 2950 BC.

2. In the center of the monument are two concentric circles of igneous rock pillars, called bluestones. The construction of these circles was never completed. These circles are known as the Bluestone Circle and the Bluestone Horseshoe. The stones in these two formations were transported to the site from the Prescelly Mountains in Pembrokeshire, southwest Wales. Excavation at the center of the monument revealed an antler, an antler tine, and an animal bone. Each artifact was submitted for dating. It was determined that this sample of three artifacts had a mean age of 2193.3 BC, with a standard deviation of 104.1 years. Assume that the ages are normally distributed with no obvious outliers. Use an ? = 0.05 significance level to test the claim that the population mean age of the Bluestone formations is different from Corbin's declared mean age of the ditch, that is, 2950 BC.